Three Realizations

Ric Elias was in seat 1D of the airplane that crashed into the Hudson River just about two years ago. The plane was leaving Manhatten and the skyline was still in sight when the piolet turned to the Hudson turned the plane engine off and told everyone the unkind words "brace for impact". In the minutes the plane was free falling into the Hudson Ric Elias realized three things, he no longer wants to postpone anything in his life, he regretted wasting time on things that did not matter with people that did matter, and finally dying is not scary, it's the thing's he could miss out on that were scary. At the end of his short 5min talk he challenged everyone to imagine that they were on a plane that was about to crash, what would their three realizations be? So I took the challenge, which is kind of hard at 15. My First realization would be I never said enough, I never said everything I wanted to when I was sad or mad. I never said the things that I was afraid to say. My next realization is that I held on to things for too long. I never let things go so those things just kept haunting me. My final realization is that even though some things seem unnecessary they were and all the things my teachers made me do were worth it. At the end of the day I will know that I learned something important and worth while.

Ric Elias had a very good speaking style he spoke fluently and had a couple light hearted joke in the midst of it all. What mattered to him was that he really wanted to be there for his kids, it was the fortunes he had that made his days good. It is incredible to me that in about a 6 minute TED talk someone can really make an impact.

Clay Shirky: Congnitive Surplus

The TED talk by Clay Shirky is very informational and cannot be absorbed in one watching, it can actually take three or four watchings. Mr. Shirky has a way of presenting that is very sly and there are many sudden things that can surprise a person such as LOLcats appearing on the screen while the definition of cognitive surplus is discussed. He was not completely fluent throughout his speech and at sometimes it was hard to keep up. Subtitles are helpful.

Cognitive surplus is the ability for the worlds population to volunteer, contribute and calibrate on large projects(in the words of Clay Shirky). Cognitive surplus has been made widely possible with new technology and the wide variety of media outlets. Since it is widely available for the people of this world to reach and transfer information, the media has become a whole different game. In the Beginning of his TED talk Clay Shirky Spoke of a woman, Ory Okolloh, who created a blog to let people know where outbursts of violence where in Kenya, she received so many comments and emails with information that she needed a way to automate. Two programmer's helped and created a website where the information received would be automatically put on a map. This is an Example of cognitive surplus; of people volunteering their time and information to help better a cause. Cognitive surplus happens everywhere in our world today. YouTube is an example if this. A person can find just about any information they will ever need on YouTube. New Videos are uploaded every single day. All full of information, useful or useless, but it is still information given to the world by people who are not paid, but people who want to share their talents with the world. Cognitive surplus is our future, it is going to be the way that information travels, think about it how many people go to the news paper? How many people go to the internet to find out information? Cognitive surplus even affects us in Smith's English 9 Honors class. We share our information through fishbowl's and blogging. Cognitive surplus is the way of the future everyone must accept that.

Daniel Pink-TED Talk 3- Period 2

Dan Pink's TED talk was quite motivational. During his talk he showed everyone a puzzle where a person must tack a candle to a wall without letting the wax hit the table, a simple yet complicated problem. The initial thought was to tack the candle to the wall, then to melt the wax and adhere the candle to the wall. But neither of those options work, the answer is to tack the box holding the tacks to the wall and put the candle inside of it. A quite simple solution when it is shown. Thinking of how to use all components to its fully capacity is something that all humans are capable of and is the answer to most problems. However, most people don't use everything to its full capacity. Most people have motivation, a drive, inside of them but most people don't use it to its full capacity. Most people let the drive in them take over and solve all the problems in their lives. The people who do let the drive take over are the ones who are going to succeed in the world, the people who are going to get the good jobs and invent the best things. It's the drive in people that will set them apart form others.

Dan Pink gave a great speech with great fluency. What mattered to him was the drive or motivation in people and how it affects the world. He wants the world to know that rewards will only help in the short term not the long. Thats what matters to him.

Belief In Yourself- TED talk 2- Period 2

As my first TED talk that I decided to view on my own I watched Caroline Casey: Looking past Limits. At the age of 17 Caroline discovered that she was and always has been legally blind. She refused to let that take her down and powered through 11 years of learning and trying to find the carrier that was best for her. One day on a run she broke and no longer knew what to do with her life, when she suddenly decided that she want to be like Mowgli from the Jungle Book. She then rode and elephant across India, raised money for eye surgeries, and started many new charities. Believing in yourself is what mattered to Caroline Casey. She could no see the world around her but lived like she could every single twist and turn. As a teenager in the average American high school find who I want to be, what I want to be, and believing in myself, is something of a challenge. There is no way to know who I want to be if I don't know who I am. It is a major point of the TED talk that all people no matter who they are should not be limited, and much too often we are. Being in High School there is limits everywhere, the "you can't do that" "you are not good enough for them, or him, or her" and the "no way you are ever going to succeed in that". Limits should no stop people, limits should only challenge people to go further and do better and believe in themselves. No person, not me, not you, not anyone is limited and everyone can be every single part of themselves. That's what Caroline taught me, that's what I took away from the inspirational TED talk from a blind woman who spoke well, and commanded that stage even though she could not see where she was or how far from the edge she was. She believed in herself and created something beautiful and inspirational, it's all about believing in yourself.

Creativity for School KIds- respone to Sir Ken Robinson's TED Talk- Period 2

Creativity is an important thing for children in public schooling systems to have. It is one of the things that can make or break a child, I would know that. Sir Ken Robinson gave a compelling TED talk on the subject. Public schooling systems crushing creativity was what mattered to sir Ken Robinson. He portrayed his point in a very effective way, by adding real examples and quite a bit of humor, both of those aspects help send across the point that children need creativity. It mattered to Sir Robinson because he knows that all children can be successful but some never get the chance to let their minds grow and think of new ideas. This topic has a great impact on me and my family. My brother who was never a social kid had a hard time making friends could never find a way to fit in; these issues resulted in him coming down with depression. It wasn't until he was forced to play and instrument that he found what he was good at and loved. He started playing the bass in the school orchestra and has been for 7 years; he has since made new friends, joined a band, and overcame depression. If it hadn't been for my brother taping into his creative side he probably would not be here right now. I know it has always been said that children being exposed to the arts is important but no one really realizes how important until something happens close to home. Sir Ken Robinson made his point to let children be creative in school; it matters for the future. If Children are not allowed to think freely, nobody will be able to create solutions to the problems that are bound to come up in the future.